With state in sight, school record broken

SUN photo/Mike PierceJeremiah Miller gives it his all during the 4 x 100 meter relay Saturday. The Pirate relay teams, both boys’ and girls’, have continued to give strong performances this year, with many of the teams expected to go on to state competition May 15-17.

The Pagosa Pirates hosted the Terry Alley Invitational track meet last Saturday, where Creede Wylie broke the first school record of the year and athletes worked on securing their spots for the upcoming state competition May 15-17.

Both the girls and boys teams placed second overall at the meet, with Pirate athletes rising to the top in the majority of events.

Coach Connie O’Donnell was busy running the meet and told The SUN that she was not able to see as many events as usual; however, O’Donnell remarked that the Pirates performed very well, noting that all of the relay teams were particularly strong.

O’Donnell also commented that she received “so many compliments about how great [Pagosa’s] volunteers were” who were helping to run the meet.

“It made Pagosa look really good,” O’Donnell said, adding, “I was really grateful to the people who stood out in the sun all day.”

After the Pirates upcoming league meet, scheduled to take place this Saturday in Alamosa, O’Donnell informed that the top 18 athletes in each event will be selected to compete at the state meet in Lakewood.

The coach said she may rest some of the distance athletes this weekend who are already ranked high in the state. For those athletes ranked 16th-18th, a lot is riding on their performance during the league meet.

The results for the Pirates during last Saturday’s meet are listed below.

Girls

Results for the Lady Pirates are as follows:

• 100 meter dash — McKayla Miller came in 10th at 14.54.

• 200 meter dash — Miller came in ninth at 30.95. Sydney Mogensen was close behind in 11th at 31.59.

• 400 meter dash — Remy Oney captured second place with a time of 1:07.58; Meghan Ellis took sixth at 1:09.06 and Maddie Greenly was ninth at 1:13.07.

• 800 meter dash — Kori Mogensen took fourth at 2:56.79, with Ellis right behind in fifth at 2:58.29.

• 1,600 meter run — Emily Bryant, currently ranked 15th in the state for the event, placed second during the meet with a time of 5:39.70. Jordyn Martinez came in 10th at 6:45.26, Delaney Khung came in 11th at 6:51.57 and Alexa Alexander came in 13th at 7:11.50.

• 3,200 meter run — Khung placed fifth with a time of 14:51.10; Greenly placed sixth with a time of 15:13.18.

• 4 x 200 meter relay — Pagosa’s team of Lee-Hammer, Madi Lewis, Payton Shahan and Taylor Strohecker flew into first place with a time of 1:51.32. The team is currently ranked 16th in the state for the event.

• 4 x 400 meter relay — Pagosa took first place with runners Taylor Jones, Lee-Hammer, Lewis and Oney coming in with a time of 4:24.41. The team is ranked 17th in the state.

• 4 x 800 meter relay — Pagosa girls Alexander, Bryant, Lee-Hammer and Lewis dominated the event, coming in first at 10:43.61, over 12 seconds ahead of the second-place finishers. The team is ranked 15th in the state.

• 4 x 800 meter relay — Pirates Drane, Greenly, Hutcherson and McRee sprinted into first place at 8:27.06, over half a minute before their second-place competitors. The boys 4 x 800 team is currently ranked third in the state.

O’Donnell said the third place ranking is exciting for the Pirates. The 4 x 800 team is one to watch at the upcoming state competition.

• High jump — Chronowski took third at 5-09. Chronowski is currently fourth in the state for the event. Ben Miller came in sixth at 5-05 and McRee was 12th at 5-01.

• Long jump — Jeremiah Miller captured third place at 18-09.25 and Cowan tied for 13th at 15-10.

• Triple jump — Chronowski dominated in first place at 40-07. He is currently ranked 12th in the state for the event.

• Shot put — Wylie broke the first school record of the year with his throw of 47-02.50, placing first during the meet. Wylie’s performance puts him at seventh in the state for the event.

Chase Patane tied for seventh in shot put at 36-04.50 and Parsons came in 10th at 35-11.50.

• Discus — Wylie again dominated, coming in first at 145-10, well above the second place throw of 135-04. Patane also performed well, taking third at 129-01, with Parsons coming in 11th at 105-07.

The Pirates’ last meet before state will be held this Saturday at Alamosa High School.